relocatable home

Well CB certainly has his priorities right. The shed went up on the weekend – just in time for the solar panels to be mounted. It was a big couple of days, all hands on deck, and the usual chatter and ribbing to make sure it didn’t actually feel like work.

CB sorting out a few things on ground level.

It is a fabulous shed. It has 3 bays – one for the boat, one for CB’s proper work ute and one for CB’s not so proper work ute (which was christened with the nickname Lolux last harvest due to it’s small stature compared to a regular Hilux) The solar power will be connected via the shed as the roof on the house is too steep to cater for such panels.

Oh and the ‘Guess the tool’ competition from last blog post – if you can remember that far back – was won by Andy Quade (no relation) who correctly guessed it to be a nailer puller outerer. Unfortunately it has come to the attention of competition organisers (me) that he was informed by another source Tom Quade (again, no relation) The rules clearly state that Tom should actually take the credit as it was his original idea. So if both families would all like to come and share in the prize, I am sure WB would be more than happy to cook dinner for you all in her new kitchen when it is up and running. She will be thrilled, trust me.

Hey, it’s how we roll (sausage roll) around here – a tradition apparently – that every Friday the tradies forgo their wholesome sandwich for a revoltingly unhealthy pie/sausage roll/iced coffee combination for smoko that would make Sarah Wilson’s hair stand on end.

Sugar free it is not, but who am I to put a stop to what is apparently the most enjoyable part of the working week?

Gone are the grain bread, hand crafted, home cooked delicacies of a Monday through to Thursday. No, on Fridays the gloves are off.

Bill the Builder likes to prepare for this all important meal by beginning the day with only a light breakfast (a thinner spread of peanut butter on the toast, if you don’t mind) and then the usual break is pushed back by half an hour, so the anticipation really builds, and then it’s a matter of someone making the dash into town for the weekly feast of fatness.

Bill works with Dooey the Doer (who has never actually been referred to as that) and together they are working on the Northcote house. They specialise in renovating older style houses (which they might not realise) but this project is by far and away the most fun they have had in a while (I’m not sure about that either, but they seem to be smiling a lot.)

A lot of the recent work has been a bit fiddly (and not that memorable, or entertaining from a blogging point of view.) Nevertheless, I have taken a lot of photos of timber lately, with Dooey asking me just this morning if I didn’t have somewhere else to be – and that’s the funny thing, I don’t! School in the west doesn’t start back for another week, due to the exasperating heat that effects towns only 40 minutes away, but apparently not the rest of the state. So while I gear up for the teaching gig, it leaves me with a lot of time to stare at the internal corners being created, roof lines being constructed, ceiling beams being aligned and not to mention verandah boards going on. Like I said, riveting.

So here’s a quick snap shot of the week that’s been…complete with the Fat Friday feast.

So day 1 is over and we can all breathe a sigh of relief. The house was still there when dawn broke. No one had stolen the trucks and she seemed to have slept well. She loves her new home.

Initial comments from the proud and eager new parents included:

“We’re hoping for it to be at lock up stage by Chrissy 2014” (Ever the realist: CB)

“So is the roof still coming, or is that it?” (Slightly overwhelmed by the whole experience:WB)

Let’s call this side ‘A’

The more practical aspects of the move, when it was still back in Melbourne, involved cutting the house in two, by actually making two incisions – one either side of the hallway. Pictured above are the floorboards of the hallway strapped up for the trip.

It’s easy to see why they were kept…nice wide babies.

Oh and this was a moment of truth alright – the truck pulled away leaving the big girl standing all by herself!

Look Mum, no hands!

The piers have been popped in today – with holes dug to a depth of 800mm, (apologies if this detail bores you to tears but apparently people get a kick out of knowing this sort of stuff) They had a little bit of cement poured in (about “that much”) and then the steel piers were put in place – all very precise.

And about 140 of them.

On average, about 10 piers per worker

And then the most magical part was when the two parts came together as one.

So that’s the end of phase 1 and the ‘movers of houses’ have done their bit and are able to go back home to Victoria.

Next up the carpenters arrive and start putting things back in their rightful place. In the meantime, CB thought he might give them a helping hand with a bit of easy, non-back-breaking demolition work.

There is excitement in the air – a house has arrived from Melbourne, via Tocumwal, on a truck. It’s going to be parked on the Lachlan River and will become the new home for my sister and her hubby.

Ahh, the possibilities

Here’s the bare block, as it is ‘pre house.’ Such an exciting (read ‘stressful’) time for them both as they prepared the way for the big arrival.

In their words, it has been a build up like no other. It could actually be compared to the impeding birth of a new baby (my observations, not theirs.)

Rather than a Doctor, the couple are making regular appointments with engineers from Council – who seem to have written every ‘parenting’ book known to man.

And the pre natal ‘huff and puff’ class has been replaced with reading up on the science of house relocation. The resident midwife, John fromGolden Age Homes, specialises in transporting houses from inner city Melbourne to a new location. This Victorian style home was originally from Northcote and has now made way for more high rise units. (We think it will be much happier in the country!)

Preparations have been made, not a nursery but rather levelling of the soil, pegging out of the site, mapping of the nearby river and the like. An impending baby is sounding much easier.

And just like many babies, the bloody thing came early! Here she is making her grand entrance…

Nearly there…

The proud parents watch on

Welcome to your new paddock.

The coming together of two parts to make a whole

The naming ceremony is next – every farm needs a name. So the front runner at the moment is Northcote, as a reference to the origins of the house. Not being overly familiar with the suburbs of Melbourne, the house relocators assured us that it used to be a fairly low brow suburb however it is well on its way to being one of high regard. We’ll go with that.

In the meantime it’s action stations… and I am thinking of setting up a lemonade stall to take full advantage of the local onlookers that have incorporated a drive along River Road into their daily routine.

Cherie

Oh, and did I mention that they are actually having a real baby as well?!